Door spring



March 8, 1938. F. E. SNYDER DOOR SPRING Filed July e, 1956 Patented Mar.8, 1938 UiNi ATE T la FF LCE DOOR SPRING Illinois Application July 6,1936, Serial No. 89,040

6 Claims.

My invention relates to a screen door closer spring and the like and ithas more particular reference to a device that may be quickly attachedto a suitable support for use in connection with a screen door withoutthe use of special tools. The device which I have invented consists of acoiled spring member or body that may be readily mounted upon a suitablebracket mem "ber, and it is provided with one or more lateral elementsthat project from such body to engage and exert pressure against thedoor to urge it to a closed position. I have provided means inconnection with the lateral members for journaling suitable rollerswhich will permit of the easy operation of the device and will at thesame time afford protection for the surface or finish oi the door anddoor-frame that may be engaged by said device.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a device that isreadily capable of operating in the mamier herein set forth toaccomplish the purposes for which it has been designed and to do this inan effective and dependable'manner. Other objects are to provide a de--vice of-this character that is novel in construction; dependable inoperation; easy to manipulate or install; simple and sturdy in theformation of its component parts so that it will not readily get out oforder and will withstand hard usage; and is economical to manufacture sothat it may be sold to the user for a reasonable retail price. Numerousother objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent to personsskilled in the art after the construction and operation of my device isunderstood from the following disclosure.

I prefer to accomplish the numerous objects of my invention and topractice the same in substantiallythe manner hereinafter fully described0 and as more particularly pointed out in the ap- Figure 4 is adetail'of the mounting bracket.

The drawing, it will be understood, is more or less schematic incharacter, and is for the purpose of disclosing typical or preferredforms in which my device may be made. In this drawing like referencecharacters are used to identify like parts wherever such parts appear inthe different views.

In the :drawing, A designates the screen door; B the adjacent-door frameor casing; and C the hinge of usual form, the leaves of which aresecured respectively to the facing portions of the door and frame. Ddesignates the body of a r mounting bracket that is of thin metal and ofsubstantially rectangular shape. There is an L-shaped extension on thebody the lower shorter arm E of which projects horizontally from thelower portion of the body so as to position the longerarm F in avertical position and spaced from the body as will be seen by referenceto the detail shown in Figure 4. The longer vertical arm thus providesa'post to receive the coiled body of the spring, and adjacent its upperend it is enlarged on one side to provide an abutment or shoulder thepurpose of which will later appear. This bracket plate is insertedbetween the meeting surfaces of the door and casing and is anchored toone of such surfaces by screws or the like so that the L-shapedextension projects beyond the plane of the door and easing as seen inFigure 2.

Thedcor spring which I have disclosed consists of a length of springwire which has its intermediate portion wound into a coil 5, theconvolutions of which preferably are in contact with each other as shownin the drawingand are in the form of a short cylindrical body. Anynumber of windings may be provided, depending of course upon the servicerequired of the device. The ends of the windings orconvolutionsterminate in oppositely projecting arms 6 and I that aredisposed substantially radially from'the axis of the coil as will beseen by reference to Figure 2.

At its outer end the arm 6 is provided with a laterally extendingportion which projects downward to provide a vertical journal 8 for arotatable sleeve 9 of rubber or other suitable material which acts inthe manner of a roller having its bearing on the journal 8. The wire atthe lower end of this journal is bent laterally back toward the lowerconvolution of the coil to provide another arm that is in the samevertical plane with respectto the upper arm 6. This arm H! acts as aretainer for maintaining the roller 9 upon its journal. The bore H ofthe roller is slightly larger in diameter than the gauge of the wireforming the journal so that the roller will have free rotation.

The lower arm "I is provided with a laterally extending portion l2 atits outer end that projects upwardly to provide a journal for anotherrotatable sleeve l3, also of rubber or other suitable material whichacts as a rollerin the same manner as roller 9 and which likewise hasits bore of greater diameter than the gauge of the wire journal 12. Atthe upper end of the journal 12 the wire is bent laterally toward theupper convolution of the coil 5 to provide an arm l4 corresponding withthe arm Ill on the other side of the coil and which is in the same planeas the arm 1. This arm I l acts as a retainer to maintain the roller ISon its journal I2. The inner ends of arms ill and Hi do not extend tothe coil but terminate a short distance therefrom, as shown in Figure l.

In normal position, and before being mounted upon the bracket the armsof the structure are disposed in planes that intersect each other at asomewhat acute angle as has been suggested by the dotted lines :0 inFigure 2. In order to mount the structure upon the bracket these armsare forced away from each other into planes beyond the planes of thearms when they are in the positions shown in Figure 2, and they arereleased after the coiled body 5 has been inserted over the post F ofthe bracket. In this position .the arms are under tension with therollers 9 and i3. bearing respectively against the surface of the doorand door-frame. Thus, whenever the'door is opened, the tension on thespring will be increased, and this tension is exerted against the-doorto close the same when the latter is released and retain the doorclosed. The lower convolution of the body 5 rests upon the top edge ofbracket arm E and the upper convolution will be just below the shoulderor abutment f at the top of the post member and thereby retained againstaccidental dislodgernent.

In the modified form shown in Figure 3, the coiled body 5 is formed withan end portion of a length of spring wire and its upper convolutionextends radially outward to provide the arm 6. At the other end of thearm the wire is bent downwardly to provide the journal 8 on which theroller Ll is mounted, and is then bent in a reverse direction toward thecoil to provide the retaining extension H The lower convolution of thespring body has a short downwardly bent stub i5 which normally engages ascrew plate or mounting plate it that may be attached to the door-frameadjacent the edge of the door, which plate has an upstanding post llthat is inserted into the coil body 5 and supports the structure. Thestub l5 anchors one end of the spring coil body 5 and when the door isopened the arm 6 will cause a contraction of the spring so that thetension thereof assists in closing the door in substantially the samemanner as in the preferred form of my invention shown in Figures 1 and2t It'will be seen from the foregoing that the structure I have devisedis very simple and is effective in performing its functions. It is madeof few parts and continued opening and closing of the door does notcause a marring of the surface finish of the door and the door-framebecause of the fact that the rollers 9 and 53 will rotate upon and notrub into these surfaces.

What I claim is:-

. 1. A screen door closer comprising a combination with a mountingdevice attached to a vertical support and embodying an upright memberprovided with an inwardly extending lug upon its upper portion, a coiledspring body adapted to fit about said member and consisting of aplurality of windings positioned below said lug, an arm projecting fromone of said windings and urged towards the door, and a cylindricalroller rotatably mounted on a remote portion of said arm and adapted forrolling movement upon the adjacent surface of the door.

2. A screen door closer comprising a coiled spring body, arms extendinglaterally in opposite directions from the end convolutions of said body,cylindrical rollers carried by the remote ends of said arms and adaptedfor rolling movement upon the surfaces of the door and its casing andmeans for mounting the body consisting of a plate interposed between thedoor and casing and a post projecting from said plate beyond the planeof the door and adapted to receive said coiled spring body, the upperend of the post having a lateral projection adapted to overhang theupper portion of said coiled spring body.

3. A screen door closer comprising a coiled spring body, arms extendinglaterally in opposite directions from the end convolutions of said body,transverse journals at the remote ends of said arms, retaining'elementson said journals,

cylindrical rollers rotatably mounted on said journals between saidretaining elements and the adjacent endsof said arms, which. saidrollers are adapted for rolling movement upon the surfaces of the doorand its casing and a bracket interposed between the door and its casingand embodying a post that projects outward from the door and its casingand adapted to receive said coiled spring body, said post provided witha projection at its upper end adapted to overhang said coiled springbody.

4. A screen door closer comprising a coiled spring body, arms extendingin opposite directions therefrom for engagement respectively with thedoor and its casing, a bracket plate rigidly mounted between the edgesof the door and its casing and embodying an outwardly disposed post uponwhich said coiled spring body is mounted, and a lateral lug on said postprojecting towards said bracket plate and adapted to embrace the upperconvolution of said coiled spring body.

5. A door closer comprising a coiled spring body, an arm extending froma convolution of the coil and disposed lateral to the, axis of saidbody,a transverse member at the free end of said arm and providing a fixedjournal disposed in parallel relation to the axis of said body, anextension projecting towards said body from the free end of saidtransverse member, and a cylindrical roller mounted for free rotation onsaid journal, whereby the adjacent portions of said arm and saidextension provide retaining means for said roller, and said roller isadapted for rolling movement upon the adjacent surface of the door.

6. A door closer comprising a, coiled spring body, arms extending fromend convolutions of the coil and disposed in opposite directions lateralto the axis of said body, transverse members at the free ends of saidarms and providing journals disposed in parallel relation to each otherand to the axis of said body, extensions projecting towards said bodyfrom the free ends of said transverse members, and cylindrical rollersmounted for free rotation on said journals, whereby the adjacentportions ofsaid arms and said extensions provide retaining means for therespective rollers, and said rollers are adapted for rolling movementrespectively upon the adjacent surfaces of the door and door frame.

FRED E. SNYDER.

